We have extreme tendencies today. One is to worship the world of advertisement. The other is to look down upon the world of advertisement as something that is eroding all values in society. Such a black and white approach does not respect reality.
When we criticise the world of advertisements today, we have to remember that quantity and quality are inversely proportional. When viewers are bombarded with an infinite range of products, quality and creativity are bound to suffer.
Some advertisements try to use a humorous point of view. Care should be taken that humour does not degenerate to become a mere farce. Then there are advertisements which are extremely offensive when it comes to family viewing. The vulgar manner in which sexual innuendos are used to appeal to the baser instincts of the consumer while selling a product, a perfume for example, offends our sensibilities.
image source: marketingland.com
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The worst outcome of most of these advertisements today is that they breed a consumerist culture where a person is made to feel that in the absence of a credit card or a mobile, he is reduced to the status of a subhuman creature. Traditional morals are insulted when we find that a student mocks the teacher for not using a particular brand of toothpowder.
As said earlier, a black and white approach is not the solution. If there are hundreds of substandard advertisements being mechanically churned out every day, forming a black canopy over us, we can take care to endure this darkness because it shall show us the stars. Good advertisements are rare but they deserve due respect. A favourite with kids is ‘Fevicol’ which uses the metaphor of Indianess to advertise the power of its product in keeping things together. How can we forget the man who could not bend to steal a currency note because he did not use Todex’?
However, if the world of advertisement merely advocates a brazen surge of consumerist consciousness devoid of morals, they will lose respect in the eyes of the consumers in the long run.